nets 109 raptors 93

The Toronto Raptors are no longer unbeaten in the Atlantic Division, dropping a lopsided 109-93 loss to Brooklyn on Wednesday. Terrence Ross scored a team-high 23 points, but it wasn’t enough to lift the Raptors (33-17), in their second ugly performance in as many games. The loss was Toronto’s first in 10 games against Atlantic opponents.

Kyle Lowry added 13 points and 10 assists, while DeMar DeRozan had 13 points before being ejected with 1:02 to play after a flagrant foul on Bojan Bogdanovic. Patrick Patterson came off the bench to score 11, while Jonas Valanciunas had 10 rebounds to go with nine points.

Two former Raptors, Jarrett Jack with 24 points and Alan Anderson with 22, led the Nets (20-28).

The Raptors were playing two nights after a lacklustre loss to the Milwaukee Bucks that coach Dwane Casey called “a stinker.” They got off to a promising start, shooting 60 per cent in the opening quarter, but never led by more than eight points and trailed by as many as 10. They went into the fourth quarter down 76-72.

The Raptors looked completely spent over the final 12 minutes, and when Bogdanovic drained a wide open three-pointer with 5:41 to go, it snuffed out virtually any hope of a Raptors comeback, to the dismay of the capacity crowd of 19,800 that included rapper and Raptors’ global ambassador Drake.

Adding to the ugliness, Bogdanovic would sink another three on the Nets’ next possession sending many of the fans to the exits.

The Raptors had beaten the Nets — the team that knocked Toronto out in the opening round of last season’s playoffs — twice this season, including last week’s 127-122 overtime win at Brooklyn that was part of the Raptors six-game winning streak.

The Raptors had been the only NBA team that was unbeaten in their division.